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Pilot Certificate Statistics

Total estimated active pilot certificates | Estimated active pilots and flight instructors by age |
Estimated active pilots and flight instructors by FAA region

Total Estimated Active Pilot Certificates Held
Yearly data	Student	Rec	Sport	Private	Commercial	ATP	Other	Total
1929	—	—	—	4,162	5,053	—	—	9,215
1930	—	—	—	7,433	7,847	—	—	15,280
1931	—	—	—	9,226	8,513	—	—	17,739
1932	—	—	—	10,297	7,964	330	—	18,591
1933	—	—	—	5,771	7,635	554	—	13,960
1934	—	—	—	5,789	7,484	676	—	13,949
1935	—	—	—	6,707	7,062	736	—	14,505
1936	—	—	—	7,622	7,288	842	—	15,752
1937	—	—	—	10,206	6,411	1,064	—	17,681
1938	—	—	—	13,985	7,839	1,159	—	22,983
1939	—	—	—	20,832	11,677	1,197	—	33,706
1940	—	—	—	49,507	18,791	1,431	—	69,729
1941	—	—	—	93,782	34,578	1,587	—	129,947
1942	—	—	—	108,689	55,760	2,177	—	166,626
1943	—	—	—	106,951	63,940	2,315	—	173,206
1944	—	—	—	111,883	66,449	3,046	—	181,378
1945	—	—	—	128,207	162,873	5,815	—	296,895
1946	—	—	—	189,156	203,251	7,654	—	400,061
1947	—	—	—	244,270	181,912	7,059	—	433,241
1948	—	—	—	306,699	176,845	7,762	—	491,306
1949	—	—	—	328,380	187,789	9,025	—	525,194
1950	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1951	—	—	—	371,854	197,900	10,813	—	580,567
1952	—	—	—	371,174	191,824	10,893	—	573,891
1953	—	—	—	—	—	18,279	—	18,279
1954	71,959	—	—	184,595	80,340	12,129	—	349,023
1955	80,494	—	—	132,526	72,957	11,774	—	297,751
1956	95,124	—	—	96,864	54,542	11,173	—	257,703
1957	98,498	—	—	124,799	70,813	13,964	—	308,074
1958	103,456	—	—	140,673	93,126	15,840	—	353,095
1959	107,816	—	—	139,804	93,815	18,950	—	360,385
1960	99,182	—	—	138,869	89,904	18,279	1,828	348,062
1961	93,973	—	—	144,312	92,976	19,155	2,444	352,860
1962	94,870	—	—	149,405	95,047	20,032	4,617	363,971
1963	105,298	—	—	152,209	96,341	20,269	4,583	378,700
1964	120,743	—	—	175,574	108,428	21,572	4,724	431,041
1965	139,172	—	—	196,393	116,665	22,440	5,100	479,770
1966	165,177	—	—	222,427	131,539	23,917	5,697	548,757
1967	181,287	—	—	253,312	150,135	25,817	7,380	617,931
1968	209,406	—	—	281,728	164,458	28,607	7,496	691,695
1969	203,520	—	—	299,491	176,585	31,442	8,990	720,028
1970	195,861	—	—	303,779	186,821	34,430	11,838	732,729
1971	186,428	—	—	312,656	192,409	35,949	13,567	741,009
1972	181,477	—	—	321,413	196,228	37,714	14,037	750,869
1973	181,905	—	—	298,921	182,444	38,139	13,198	714,607
1974	180,795	—	—	305,848	192,425	41,002	13,658	733,728
1975	176,978	—	—	305,863	189,342	42,592	13,412	728,187
1976	188,801	—	—	309,005	187,801	45,072	13,567	744,246
1977	203,510	—	—	327,424	188,763	50,149	14,086	783,932
1978	204,874	—	—	337,644	185,833	55,881	14,601	798,833
1979	210,180	—	—	343,276	182,097	63,652	15,462	814,667
1980	199,833	—	—	357,479	183,442	69,569	16,748	827,071
1981	179,912	—	—	328,562	168,580	70,311	16,817	764,182
1982	156,361	—	—	322,094	165,093	73,471	16,236	733,255
1983	147,197	—	—	318,643	159,495	75,938	16,731	718,004
1984	150,081	—	—	320,086	155,929	79,192	17,088	722,376
1985	146,652	—	—	311,086	151,632	82,740	17,430	709,540
1986	150,273	—	—	305,736	147,798	87,186	18,125	709,118
1987	146,016	—	—	300,949	143,645	91,287	17,756	699,653
1988	136,913	—	—	299,786	143,030	96,968	17,319	694,016
1989	142,544	—	—	293,179	144,540	102,087	17,660	700,010
1990	128,663	87	—	299,111	149,666	107,732	17,400	702,659
1991	120,203	161	—	293,306	148,365	112,167	17,893	692,095
1992	114,597	187	—	288,078	146,385	115,855	17,857	682,959
1993	103,583	206	—	283,700	143,014	117,070	17,496	665,069
1994	96,254	241	—	284,236	138,728	117,434	17,195	654,088
1995	101,279	232	—	261,399	133,676	123,877	18,416	638,879
1996	94,947	265	—	254,002	129,187	127,486	16,374	622,261
1997	96,101	284	—	247,604	125,300	130,858	16,195	616,342
1998	97,736	305	—	247,226	122,053	134,612	16,366	618,298
1999	97,359	343	—	258,749	124,261	137,642	17,118	635,472
2000	93,064	340	—	251,561	121,858	141,596	17,162	625,581
2001	94,420	316	—	243,823	120,502	144,702	16,200	619,963
2002	85,991	317	—	245,230	125,920	144,708	29,596	609,936
2003	87,296	310	—	241,045	123,990	143,504	28,866	625,011
2004	87,910	291	—	235,994	122,592	142,160	29,686	618,633
2005	87,213	278	134	228,619	120,614	141,992	30,887	609,737
2006	84,866	239	939	219,233	117,610	141,935	32,287	597,109
2007	84,339	239	2,031	211,096	115,127	143,953	33,564	590,349
2008	80,989	252	2,623	222,596	124,746	146,838	35,702	613,746
2009	72,280	238	3,248	229,767	141,027	147,725	30,242	624,527
						594,285
Note:
*2008 - Forecast
Other includes helicopter (only) and glider (only).
In March 2001, the FAA Registry changed the definition of "Other" pilot category. It added approx. 13,000 to this category
Source: FAA - Administrator's Fact Book, 2008

Estimated active pilots and flight instructors by age range (As of 12/31/2008)
	STU	SPT	REC	PVT	COM	ATP	Total	CFI

Totals in 2008	80,989	2,623	257	240,683	139,489	149,705	613,746	93,202

14-15	190	0	0	0	0	0	190	0
16-19	11,562	18	3	3,846	561	0	15,990	73
20-24	17,850	29	25	18,660	11,674	196	48,434	5,116
25-29	11,434	40	11	17,728	20,626	4,463	54,302	10,588
30-34	7,197	74	11	15,983	14,157	10,749	48,171	9,652
35-39	6,555	105	18	20,274	13,130	17,679	57,761	10,449
40-44	6,426	225	22	24,349	11,893	23,414	66,329	9,993
45-49	6,378	372	25	26,195	11,297	25,828	70,095	9,544
50-54	5,346	500	29	32,105	12,440	23,583	74,003	9,499
55-59	3,657	502	44	29,705	12,486	18,191	64,585	8,677
60-64	2,263	387	19	23,202	13,183	14,434	53,488	8,502
65-69	1,224	223	20	15,010	9,282	6,743	32,502	5,413
70-74	567	106	6	7,221	4,543	2,699	15,142	3,079
75-79	227	35	14	4,238	2,644	1,157	8,315	1,665
80 and over	113	7	10	2,167	1,573	569	4,439	952

Last updated - 2009, Source: FAA
Note:
Airplane pilots includes pilots with an airplane only certificate as well as those with an airplane and a helicopter and/or glider certificate
Glider pilots are not required to have a medical examination; however, totals above represent pilots who received a medical examination.
CFIs not included in total.

Estimated active pilots and flight instructors by FAA region and state (As of 12/31/2008)
	Students	Private	Commercial	ATP	Rec	Sport	TOTALS	CFI
FAA Region and State
Grand Total	80,989	240,683	139,489	149,705	257	2,623	613,746	93,202
United States--Total	75,382	231,322	126,893	142,070	257	2,617	578,541	91,155
Alaskan Region--Total	732	3,346	2,055	2,206	1	37	8,377	1,225
Central Region--Total	5,002	18,664	9,590	11,626	16	265	45,163	7,383
Iowa	721	2,983	1,253	709	1	48	5,715	854
Kansas	909	3,586	1,689	1,380	2	36	7,602	1,355
Kentucky	649	2,059	1,256	2,502	4	30	6,500	1,173
Missouri	1,131	4,244	2,216	2,253	4	71	9,919	1,624
Nebraska	454	1,735	818	564	1	26	3,598	472
Tennessee	1,138	4,057	2,358	4,218	4	54	11,829	1,905
Eastern Region--Total	14,794	44,781	22,504	25,652	89	440	108,260	16,591
Connecticut	672	2,445	1,055	1,494	4	9	5,679	882
Delaware	181	497	303	367	0	5	1,353	234
District of Columbia	88	246	99	69	0	2	504	45
AE (Europe and Canada)	30	133	119	60	0	0	342	34
Maine	302	1,258	602	514	4	27	2,707	370
Maryland	1,419	3,203	1,702	1,807	4	26	8,161	1,212
Massachusetts	1,147	3,970	1,725	1,550	5	26	8,423	1,223
New Hampshire	399	1,433	756	1,357	3	17	3,965	696
New Jersey	1,334	4,150	2,000	2,349	3	22	9,858	1,595
New York	2,837	7,382	3,645	2,951	30	61	16,906	2,652
North Carolina	1,729	5,841	2,933	4,023	5	59	14,590	2,086
Pennsylvania	2,232	7,041	3,365	4,224	16	98	16,976	2,710
Rhode Island	109	468	228	208	1	5	1,019	144
Vermont	138	632	293	275	4	8	1,350	184
Virginia	1,187	5,240	3,281	4,101	9	50	14,568	2,247
West Virginia	290	842	398	303	1	25	1,859	277
Great Lakes Region--Total	10,930	39,657	19,342	20,283	82	715	91,009	15,307
Illinois	2,381	7,694	4,022	4,717	10	135	18,959	3,370
Indiana	1,321	4,788	2,253	2,164	8	119	10,653	1,728
Michigan	1,990	7,046	3,333	3,015	16	129	15,529	2,427
Minnesota	1,294	5,672	2,950	3,555	2	56	13,529	2,465
North Dakota	404	1,127	757	219	0	5	2,512	389
Ohio	1,992	7,438	3,515	4,156	34	115	17,250	2,976
South Dakota	254	1,020	605	336	1	3	2,249	363
Wisconsin	1,294	4,872	1,907	2,121	11	123	10,328	1,589
Northwest Mountain Region--Total	8,399	26,990	15,393	16,068	13	266	67,129	10,949
Colorado	1,736	6,448	4,065	5,588	3	52	17,892	3,292
Idaho	618	2,287	1,153	823	1	39	4,921	710
Montana	540	1,819	1,034	589	3	16	4,001	602
Oregon	1,412	4,617	2,330	1,335	3	43	9,740	1,449
Utah	1,319	3,083	2,050	1,787	0	30	8,269	1,414
Washington	2,504	7,849	4,359	5,651	3	74	20,440	3,231
Wyoming	270	887	402	295	0	12	1,866	251
Southern Region--Total	11,784	29,004	18,847	25,240	21	343	85,239	13,553
Alabama	918	3,010	2,204	1,304	3	22	7,461	1,035
Florida	7,467	16,307	11,102	14,904	13	198	49,991	8,359
Georgia	2,117	6,392	3,612	7,048	3	89	19,261	2,989
Puerto Rico	439	516	381	323	2	5	1,666	220
South Carolina	808	2,703	1,506	1,593	0	29	6,639	924
Virgin Islands	34	69	27	63	0	0	193	22
Southwest Region--Total	10,453	28,160	17,601	20,485	26	300	77,025	11,536
Arkansas	646	2,155	1,389	903	1	41	5,135	703
Louisiana	740	2,029	1,557	1,098	4	29	5,457	787
Mississippi	642	1,584	1,118	942	4	17	4,307	583
New Mexico	685	2,168	1,328	745	3	35	4,964	602
Oklahoma	1,361	3,415	2,109	1,398	5	25	8,313	1,219
Texas	6,379	16,809	10,100	15,399	9	153	48,849	7,643
Western-Pacific Region--Total	13,288	40,720	21,561	20,510	9	251	96,339	14,611
American Samoa	0	0	4	6	0	0	10	0
AP (Pacific)	120	139	196	56	0	1	512	35
Arizona	3,165	7,214	4,800	5,319	1	60	20,559	3,640
California	8,921	30,084	14,085	11,849	8	169	65,116	9,199
Fed St Micronesia	1	0	2	0	0	0	3	1
Guam	7	20	26	101	0	0	154	33
Hawaii	360	794	905	1,020	0	8	3,087	564
Marshall Islands	0	0	2	2	0	0	4	0
Neveda	713	2,468	1,539	2,153	0	13	6,886	1,136
North Marina Islands	1	1	2	4	0	0	8	3
Palau	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
U.S. Affilates	2	1	6	6	0	0	15	4
Armed Forces Personnel	150	272	315	116	0	1	854	69
Outside United States	5,607	9,361	12,596	7,635	0	6	35,205
Last updated - 2009 Source: FAA

Note:
Airplane pilots includes pilots with an airplane only certificate as well as those with an airplane and a helicopter and/or glider certificate
CFIs not included in total.
Grand Total includes Unknown and pilots outside the United States
Armed forces includes military personnel holding civilian certificate stationed in foreign country.

June 29, 2010